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LUCKNOW: Panchayats of western UP are known for issuing bizarre and at times unconstitutional diktats. Now a panchayat in Muzaffarnagar has come up with yet another. A community panchayat of Nirana village has issued an order banning migrant Muslim families to bury their deceased relatives at the public graveyard.
 
According to reports, the Nirana village panchayat after a meeting decided that burial of only those who have lived in the village for more than 30 years will be allowed in the graveyard. Shortage of space in graveyard due to growing number of migrants in the village was cited as the main reason for such a directive.
 
In most cases, government machinery does not act against panchayats issuing diktats but fortunately in this case district administration of Muzaffarnafar reacted. Officials of the district administration said that panchayat’s decision will not be allowed to follow and action will be taken against those found guilty.
 
According to officials who visited the village, Nirana has a huge graveyard which was recently divided into three parts by villagers for burial as per their castes. However, the number of people settled in the village registered a sharp increase over the last few years thereby finding burial space at the graveyard a difficult task.
 
Muslim clerics, however, have criticized the diktat. UP Imam organization president Mufti Zulfikar Ali, while talking to mediapersons, said that the order of the village panchayat was against the law and tenets of Islam. He said that every Muslim has the right to bury deceased of their family at the public graveyard.
 
Recently, a panchayat in village Asra of Baghpat had banned love marriages and barred women from carrying mobile phones and venturing out of the house without a male escort. Those who disagreed were told to leave the village. Significantly, many politicians across all parties have supported the panchayat.